| When is a goat not a goat? When it can be spotted on a rail-thin rock crevasse at an altitude of 13,000 feet in the northwestern United States and Canada. That animal, while seemingly possessing the stubbornness attributed to the goats found at petting zoos, is actually the biologically distinct mountain goat, the lone extant species of the genus Oreamnos. While related to domestic and wild goats within the Bovidae family, mountain goats belong to the Rupicaprini tribe, a subdivision of "goat antelopes" that includes fellow rock-climbing creatures such as the goral and chamois. Anatomically, rupicaprids differ from other bovids by featuring short, dagger-like horns atop thinner, lighter skulls. Mountain goats have also developed specific features that would feel strange to their cousins in the petting zoo, namely the thick, double layer of fur and suction cup-like hooves that allow them to survive in cold, treacherous environments. Behavior-wise, male mountain goats are more deferential to females than their domestic cousins. They're also far less likely to engage in the sort of head-butting waged between playful kids and competing rivals among true goat herds, due to the potential for injury from those sharp horns. But lest you think these animals suffer from a courage deficiency, just think about how brave you'd be leaping between cliffs more than 2 miles above sea level. | 
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